Diaz and Johnson took home “Submission of the Night” and “Knockout
of the Night,” respectively, while Gaudinot and Lineker shared
“Fight of the Night” honors for their flyweight bout at the Izod
Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

Diaz put forth arguably the best performance of his career in the
evening’s main event, walking through opponent Jim Miller’s
early low kicks to consistently find a home for his jab. After
flooring the New Jersey native with a stiff one-two midway through
the first, Diaz finished the job in round two, lacing his forearm
around Miller’s throat and flipping him onto his back. Diaz
tightened the screws on his guillotine choke from the mount and
coaxed a tap from Miller, who had not been finished in 24 previous
fights.

Despite giving up a takedown to Pat Barry
early in round one, Johnson managed to return to his vertical base
and pin his man against the cage, unloading with a flurry of
devastating hooks that spelled disaster for “HD.” Though Barry
tried to defend the onslaught, Johnson hit Barry’s sweet spot and
dropped him to the canvas for a technical knockout victory at
4:38.

Gaudinot and Lineker wasted no time in showing why the UFC’s newest
division is regarded by many as its most exciting. The 125-pounders
each launched a hailstorm of punches to start the contest, but
Lineker’s thudding body attack appeared to make the difference in
the first frame. Round two looked to be a replay of the first frame
until the American locked up Lineker’s neck in a guillotine choke
and jumped into guard, gradually tightening his squeeze until the
Brazilian lost consciousness.